By AFP
Posted Friday, October 14 2011 at 09:58NAIROBI
Two Spanish aid workers kidnapped from Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp are believed to have been taken into lawless Somalia, police said Friday.
The two women, working as logisticians for the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders), were seized Thursday by gunmen that police say were Somali Islamist al Shabaab rebels.
"There are all indications that they are on the other side (of the border)," regional police chief Leo Nyongesa told AFP.
It was the third incident of foreigners being abducted in just over a month.
Fierce fighting was reported in a town just inside Somalia on Thursday between Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab militants and other rival Somali militia groups.Helicopter search
Despite the likelihood the kidnappers are now in Somalia, police said they would continue the search in Kenya on Friday with the support of a helicopter.
"We have not found them, but the search is still going on. We will resume the search this morning both on the ground and in the air," he added.
The Kenyan driver of the aid workers was shot and wounded by the gunmen, who then drove with the women towards the Somali border.
The four-wheel drive vehicle was found late Thursday by police in the Dadajabula area, less than 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Somali border, and some 40 kilometres from where the women were seized.
"We suspect they were unable to proceed with it due to poor terrain because it was raining," Nyongesa added.
Kenya is still reeling from the recent kidnappings of a French and British national from coastal regions by Somali gunmen that dealt a blow to its key tourism sector.
Earlier this month, Frenchwoman Marie Dedieu was seized from her beachfront home in Kenya's popular tourist destination of Lamu, and taken to Somalia.
Gunmen also captured British holidaymaker Judith Tebbutt from Lamu district and killed her husband.
No demands have been made public by the gunmen for the release of the hostages.Infiltrate camp
Dadaab, the world's largest refugee complex, is home to some 450,000 refugees, most of whom have come from Somalia, fleeing drought and war.
Kenyan authorities have on several occasions expressed fears that Islamist extremists would infiltrate the Dadaab camps from Somalia, as the border lies barely 100 kilometres (60 miles) away.
A Kenyan driver working for the international aid organisation Care Kenya is still missing after he was abducted in September at gunpoint at the wheel of his vehicle from Hagadera camp in the Dadaab complex.
Policing the sprawling camps is extremely difficult, and Kenyan authorities recommend aid workers take with them armed security.
The camps have seen a huge influx of people this year &#8211; more than 7,500 people have arrived in the crowded complex of rag, tin and plastic huts this month alone.
The exodus has been sparked by a severe drought that has affected more than 13 million people across the Horn of Africa, hitting Somalia especially hard with the UN declaring famine in several southern regions.Two Spaniards kidnapped in Kenya likely in Somalia*- News*|nation.co.ke

French woman kidnapped from north Kenyan coast

An elderly French woman has been kidnapped from the Kenyan resort of Lamu, near to the area from which Judith Tebbutt was taken by armed gunmen and her husband, David, was murdered.

Manda island, part of the Lamu archipelago on Kenya's Indian Ocean coastPhoto: EPA/DAI KUROKAWA

10:09AM BST 01 Oct 2011

Gunmen have kidnapped an elderly French woman from the north Kenyan coast in the early hours of Saturday.

It is the second violent abduction of a foreign visitor from the Lamu archipelago in three weeks, police said.

A French diplomat has confirmed the kidnapping, but no name of the woman has yet been released.

Further reports suggest that two Kenyan coastguard vessels have already surrounded a boat carrying the gunmen and the kidnap victim.

"Two boats of the Kenyan coastguard have surrounded the boat which the gunmen and woman are on," Najib Balala, a Kenyan tourism minister, said, adding that the standoff was taking place near the border with Somalia.

Local sources said the woman was wheelchair-bound.Abu Chiaba, the legislator for Lamu East, said the gunmen raided a private house under the cover of darkness, seizing the elderly woman. The area's police chief said security forces were in the area."Armed people came into Manda by boat in the middle of the night. The elderly French woman is well known in the area; she comes to Manda regularly," Mr Chiaba is reported to have said.Manda island, part of the Lamu archipelago on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, has a top-class hotel and was, until recently, considered to be one of the safest destinations in Kenya.On September 11, gunmen attacked the British couple Judith and David Tebbutt, who were holidaying north of Lamu.The Tebbutts, from the town of Bishop's Stortford, were the only guests at the Kiwayu Safari Village, just 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the border with conflict-ravaged Somalia.David Tebbutt was shot dead and his wife was captured. She is believed to have been sold on to pirates now holding her in central Somalia."We have deployed a contingent of police officers to the area. The army is already there and a police helicopter is in the air," said Provincial Police Officer Adoli Aggrey.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/kenya/8800728/French-woman-kidnapped-from-north-Kenyan-coast.html
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Kenyan authorities say they suspect the Somali militant group Al Shabab is behind the kidnapping of two European aid workers Thursday, the third kidnapping of foreigners near the Kenya-Somali border in the past month.

Police spokesmen said gunmen seized the two aid workers from a huge Somali refugee complex in northern Kenya. So far, there are no reports of ransom or other demands from the gunmen.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders confirmed two of its staff, both Spanish, were abducted Thursday at the Dadaab refugee complex, from the recently-opened Ifo 3 camp.

The head of Doctors Without Borders' Spanish branch said the agency is in contact with all relevant authorities and doing everything possible to "ensure the swift and safe return" of the abducted women.

Kenyan authorities suspect the kidnappers may have tried to take the workers back to Somali territory. Dadaab is located about 100 kilometers from the Somali border. Authorities say heavy rains are hindering their search efforts.

A driver working with the aid workers was shot during the abduction and left behind. An official for Doctors Without Borders told VOA he is in stable condition.

A British tourist and a French woman were recently abducted at Kenyan resorts. Both of those women are being held captive in Somalia.

The Dadaab complex is home to more than 400,000 refugees, many of whom fled ongoing famine conditions and fighting in southern Somalia.[/TD]
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MY TAKE:
The country looks to be a very dangerous place for Western foreigners to step in their feet...since the Government does not want to announce potential "No Go Areas" for Western Foreigners, it is better to inform the Western foreigners you know to be vigilant wherever in Kenya and to be at the peril of their own risk wherever they think of going to some areas of Kenya, may God protect those three Westerners under captivity by Al-Shaabab